


Goodbye, Farewell, Amen & Hey Will You?

by stateofintegrity



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24921112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stateofintegrity/pseuds/stateofintegrity
Summary: Just fixing up the ending a little (Stiers would have gotten an Emmy if it had been up to me).
Relationships: Maxwell Klinger/Charles Emerson Winchester III
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Goodbye, Farewell, Amen & Hey Will You?

He found the former company clerk of MASH 4077th sitting on a suitcase, crying. 

The travel worn suitcase’s contents spilled out in waves of lace and silk- soft, colorful - but the two halves didn’t meet. 

“Maxwell.” 

He looked up, tears still streaming, at the tall man in dress browns. Charles knelt, used the white scarf to wipe his face. 

“Major? I thought you already left.” 

“I forgot something.” He took his hand, held it. “Will you?” 

“Will I what?” He was trying to find his way out of the crying jag and wondering how he was ever going to get the Klinger Collection home and stunned with ricocheting from utter loneliness into whatever the hell this was. Maybe it was a hallucination? Wouldn’t that beat all?  _ I finally earn my damn section 8 and the war’s over. Great. Just great.  _

Charles chuckled at the flustered creature. “Come home with me.”

“To Boston?”

“I do live there, yes.”

“Massachusetts?”

The Major narrowly avoided rolling his eyes. “Yes. That one.” 

He wiped his eyes. “Major, we’ve never even kissed!” 

One hand on the back of his head, Charles remedied that problem so thoroughly that he lost his hat in the effort. “I know you’ve got people in Ohio, Max, but they cannot possibly need you like I do.” 

When Klinger just stared, he upped the stakes. “I am paying my own way home in an effort to be free of army vehicles forever. Therefore, I can take you  _ and  _ your wardrobe. Come, Maxwell. Say yes. Or tell me which words  _ I _ must say in order to make you say yes.” 

“Major, you say you need me, but since when?”

“Since, ah, always, I suppose.”

The  _ ah _ convinced him it was all real and all true. It was pure Charles. “And you left me out the loop because?”

“I did not believe you could… that is, I didn’t think you could want me. But, ah, when I tried to leave…”

“Yeah?”

“Klinger, I have performed amputations before. But never on myself. If I leave you here, now, the army will not send me the benefits due a man injured in battle, but I will never recover. Would you condemn me to that?” 

The smaller man swiped at his eyes. “I can wear whatever I want?” 

Charles held back a wild peal of laughter. Klinger  _ bargaining  _ was, he knew, Klinger on the edge of agreeing. Now it was just down to terms. “You may.” 

“And I won’t ruin your life with your family and your connections and all that? I’m not high society, Major.” 

“Maxwell, my sister, who shares my home, knows so much about you that she not only  _ loves _ you, she’s nearly certain she  _ likes _ you better than she likes me. There is no other opinion that matters to me. And you forget that I’ve seen you in pearls. High society will fall at your feet and roll over, begging you to rub its belly.” 

Klinger played with a scrap of fabric that hung over the side of the suitcase. “I feel like I’m supposed to talk you out of this, Major. I’m not rich. I’m not educated like you. English isn’t even my first language. Besides, doesn’t your family expect you to get married and all that stuff?” 

Charles indulged in his characteristic smirk because Klinger was looking down at his shoes and couldn’t see.  _ You are adorable,  _ he thought. “Darling,” (it was very enjoyable to see Klinger’s dark head shoot up at that) “I look forward to you talking me  _ into _ a great many things, but I’m not giving you up - not even on your recommendation, which, in this case is very flawed. I do not wish or require you to be anything but what you are and you are all the family, Honoria excepted, that I need. And I  _ will  _ get married. What do you imagine it is that I have been asking you?” 

Klinger reflected a moment; Charles had been on one knee. Then he held out a hand. “Alright, Major. Let’s go home.” 

End! 


End file.
